iOS 6 accounts for 15 percent of Apple mobile users after its first day

Uptake of Apple’s latest mobile operating system looks brisk, with iOS 6 said to account for about 15 percent of mobile traffic from Apple mobile devices (in the US) after its first 24 hours.

The iOS update was released on 19 September and can be downloaded by eligible iPad, iPhone and iPod touch users (if their hardware isn’t too “old” to use all of the features).

Although some people might be holding off, especially due to the controversy over the removal of Google Maps and the debut of its not-so-well received Apple replacement, that hasn’t stopped plenty of users becoming early adopters and migrating from iOS 5 to the new version 6.

TechCrunch reports that data monitoring services ChartBoost and Chitika both reckon iOS 6 was being used by about 15 percent of North American iOS users by the end of its first full day. It’s not yet clear if this proportion will be the same for other parts of the world.

Peering deeper into the data, ChartBoost says that iPhone owners were the quickest to upgrade, with 17 percent of unique users (these stats obviously don’t include the iPhone 5 as that’s only gone on sale a couple of days after the release of iOS 6 itself), followed by the iPad (13 percent) and iPod touch (9 percent).

In comparison, it took iOS 5 around five days to reach a 20-percent level when it first launched. The contrast is more stark with Android, as it took nearly eight months for Android 4.0 to reach the same level of use among ’droid mobiles. However, that comparison is less fair due to the way that Apple makes its OS updates available to all compatible devices at the same time.